Saturday, May 12, 2012

Once Upon a Time in the Foxes Den Kingdom (pt 4)

Lucy followed Salome through the forest, farther and farther away from the castle they went. She couldn't help but wonder if she had made a huge mistake. Whimsy should have been here by now if she got her message. Ms. Nettle must be beside herself with worry.

"I don't even know who this girl is or where we are going. I always am getting myself in over my head..." thought Lucy.

Salome let out the loudest whistle Lucy had ever heard! Out from seemingly nowhere, a huge dog appeared in front of him. He was wearing....it looked like the collar Ms. Nettle had described to her, the one that the Wicked Queen uses to control her subjects...

At first sight, Lucy was afraid of the dog. He looked big and scary. But when she looked into his eyes, she didn't see malice or anger....she saw fear. "Was this big dog really afraid of such a young girl? If so, why? Maybe I will find a friend out here after all," thought Lucy.

Salome was searching through her tote bag and she pulled out two items. First, she pulled out a beautiful, hand crocheted water bottle. How she kept the water inside was probably yet another bit of black magic. Then she pulled out a frightening mask. She put the mask next to her on the ground and invited Lucy to sit.

Salome took a long pull from the water and handed it to Lucy. Lucy noticed the dog was panting. She grabbed a large leaf from the many exotic looking trees around them and poured some water into it for the dog.

"Whats his name?" asked Lucy.

"Happy," responded Salome, "fitting, isn't it?"

For the first time Salome had a look of regret, sadness, or just disappointment? Lucy waited for Salome to elaborate, but she just sat there in silence. Lucy wished that Whimsy would come. Even Ms. Nettle's rantings about Lulu knowing better would be welcome about now.

Lucy noticed a lone fawn sitting in the distance. Something about this fawn scared Lucy. Of course, just about everything was scaring her at this point. She never felt so alone. She began to think that her and that fawn had more in common than not. Both were all alone, lost in these woods, helpless with no one to rely on. Salome spotted the fawn and surprisingly looked a little frightened herself.

"It is time for us to get moving Lulu. I have a feeling we are being watched," said Salome.

Lucy had had enough of the secrecy. "What exactly would be watching us? Why would they be watching us? I will not continue on with you unless you answer my questions," asserted Lucy.

"I will try to explain myself to you, but I cannot be more serious about us having to move on! SHE could be watching us. SHE doesn't want us to accomplish our mission. But what SHE doesn't know, she cannot do anything about. So we need to keep a low profile and move on," explained Salome.

"She" could only mean the one and only Wicked Queen. She could take on any form that she liked.

They trekked on. Happy started growling and ran ahead. Salome and Lucy followed his path. Ducking to avoid the hanging branches, jumping to avoid the tangled roots, Lucy could hear the fabric on her brand new dress from Charmy ripping as it snagged on every prickly bush around. Happy had found two white cats. The cats were just sitting there watching them, like they had known that the girls were coming. As soon as Happy got close, one of the cats grew into a monstrous tiger and let out a roar! As soon as Happy coward away, she returned to her white kitten form.

"We have been waiting for you. We have two gifts to present to you. They both will be useful to you on your journey. When the opportunity to use these gifts presents itself, you will know."

With that, they both disappeared and in their place were two gifts (as promised). One was a beautiful chunky aquamarine stone on a silver ring, the other was a basket full of soaps and other beauty supplies.

"What on earth could we possibly need THESE for? As if our story isn't confusing enough already!" thought Lucy. Salome scooped up the goods and put them in her tote. They kept moving. In the distance, Lucy saw what literally looked exactly as it had always been described to her: the Candy House.

Salome pounded on the door. "I told you to go away." They could hear through the hard candy door. Salome again opened up her tote. She pulled out a pendant with a skull. She placed the pendant above the witches door.

"So who are you anyways, Mary Poppins? The way you seem to find all the world in that bag is just amazing," joked Lucy.

Salome gave her an evil look. She truly looked like a demon in that whole outfit.

"Now she is trapped in her house. Anyone who steps foot under this pendant will immediately be turned to a pile of sea salt. She must walk under it in order to get it down. Now she cannot interrupt what we need to do now," said Salome.

"And what exactly is that?" asked Lucy.

"We need to break into her garden! She will not like that one bit. Do you remember Repunzel's parents? How they stole just a little lettuce from her garden and with that they had to give up their daughter. Breaking into this witch's garden is no small matter."

"It's for Happy. You know the collar, I could tell you recognized it when you saw it. The Queen tricked me, telling me it would make Happy all powerful and that he would live forever. If Happy has any power, I know not. All I know is that his name became an irony on the day she welded it on him."